Help me find authors from Southeast Asia
July 12, 2018 6:06 AM Subscribe
You helped me find lots of fantastic Native American authors (all my on wish list / ordered and on their way ahhh). Now help me find Southeast Asian authors from Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
I’ve read Viet Thanh Nguyen - highly recommend his The Refugees and The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang (about a Hmong family set in Laos, Thailand and the US) and Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (Thai-American). All great books.
I’ve read Viet Thanh Nguyen - highly recommend his The Refugees and The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang (about a Hmong family set in Laos, Thailand and the US) and Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (Thai-American). All great books.
For the Philippines, Nick Joaquin. Start with this one.
posted by micketymoc at 8:24 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by micketymoc at 8:24 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Zen Cho is Malaysian and the author of the delightful Sorceror to the Crown, a historical fantasy novel (there will be a sequel, huzzah).
posted by mogget at 9:19 AM on July 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mogget at 9:19 AM on July 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
America is Not the Heart, a novel set in the Philippines and California by Filipina-American author Elaine Castillo.
posted by elisse at 9:28 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by elisse at 9:28 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe (Myanmar)
First they Killed my Father by Loung Ung (Cambodia)
Survival in the Killing Fields by Haing Ngor (Cambodia)
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip (Vietnam)
Catfish and Mandala by Andrew Pham (Vietnam)
posted by phoenix_rising at 11:50 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
First they Killed my Father by Loung Ung (Cambodia)
Survival in the Killing Fields by Haing Ngor (Cambodia)
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip (Vietnam)
Catfish and Mandala by Andrew Pham (Vietnam)
posted by phoenix_rising at 11:50 AM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also suggest America is Not the Heart (Philippines)
Glass Palace (technically by an Indian author, but about Burma in the 1850s).
Gun Dealers' Daughter - Gina Apostol (Philippines)
posted by something_witty at 12:47 PM on July 12, 2018
Glass Palace (technically by an Indian author, but about Burma in the 1850s).
Gun Dealers' Daughter - Gina Apostol (Philippines)
posted by something_witty at 12:47 PM on July 12, 2018
The wonderful Tilted Axis Press has published a couple of books by Prabda Yoon from Thailand.
posted by cardinalandcrow at 1:14 PM on July 12, 2018
posted by cardinalandcrow at 1:14 PM on July 12, 2018
The redundancy of courage by timothy mo is based on the conflict in Timor, though it is set in a fictional country
posted by WeekendJen at 2:45 PM on July 12, 2018
posted by WeekendJen at 2:45 PM on July 12, 2018
This is what's currently on my shelf: Dave Chua's Gone Case - the full collection (his Girl Under The Bed is also great, more YA), Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do for Vietnam, Sebastian Sim's Let's Give It Up For Gimme Lao, Sonny Liew's The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, and Thanhha Lai's Inside Out & Back Again (a kid's book technically, but a brilliant verse about Vietnam). The first four are graphic novels or multimedia works, and very very good in different ways.
I also recommend LONTAR, a speculative fiction journal of South East Asian short stories. Zen Cho had pieces in it (she is soooo good, not just because I kinda know her but because she is freaking amazing and her Pontianak stories are the poisoned apples of delight). I get mine from Books Actually, the nicest bookstore in Singapore.
Foreign Bodies by Hwee Hwee Tan is hard to get a copy of (Books Actually has a couple of copies) and it is uneven, but damn, it's a harsh bitter book about Singapore that works. Really good.
Alfian Sa'at is a very good poet and playwright. He only occasionally writes prose and his short collection Corridors is great.
I love cozy mysteries and Ovidia Yu has two delightful series set in Singapore, a contemporary one, Aunty Lee's Delights and a 1930s one, The Frangipani Tree Mystery.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:46 PM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
I also recommend LONTAR, a speculative fiction journal of South East Asian short stories. Zen Cho had pieces in it (she is soooo good, not just because I kinda know her but because she is freaking amazing and her Pontianak stories are the poisoned apples of delight). I get mine from Books Actually, the nicest bookstore in Singapore.
Foreign Bodies by Hwee Hwee Tan is hard to get a copy of (Books Actually has a couple of copies) and it is uneven, but damn, it's a harsh bitter book about Singapore that works. Really good.
Alfian Sa'at is a very good poet and playwright. He only occasionally writes prose and his short collection Corridors is great.
I love cozy mysteries and Ovidia Yu has two delightful series set in Singapore, a contemporary one, Aunty Lee's Delights and a 1930s one, The Frangipani Tree Mystery.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:46 PM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
For Singapore: Epigram Press; seconding LONTAR. Also from their press: Heaven Has Eyes is by an English prof who just left for Canada with his Singaporean partner after he was denied citizenship (after 20 years of residency). Kappa Quartet had good reviews. From Math Paper Press: I Will Survive is a LGBT anthology; A Book of Changes (poetry). Ethos anthologies: Hook and Eye, this is how you walk on the moon, eastern heathens.
Charlie Chan Hock Chye is great, but it takes a bit of historical sensibility of what a Big Deal the LKY myth and anti-communism is.
posted by ahundredjarsofsky at 7:33 PM on July 12, 2018
Charlie Chan Hock Chye is great, but it takes a bit of historical sensibility of what a Big Deal the LKY myth and anti-communism is.
posted by ahundredjarsofsky at 7:33 PM on July 12, 2018
Smaller and Smaller Circles. Don't be fooled by the detective novel format, it digs deep into the Philippine social milieu as it unwinds the plot.
posted by micketymoc at 9:43 PM on July 12, 2018
posted by micketymoc at 9:43 PM on July 12, 2018
Some names from Singapore: Jolene Tan, A Certain Exposure; JY Yang, who has a couple of Hugo noms to their name; Rachel Heng, whom I only just discovered today through her essay on The Rumpus. Keep a lookout for books published by Ethos, Epigram, Math Paper Press.
Minfong Ho has written many YA books set in Cambodia (Clay Marble, Stone Goddess) and Thailand (Sing to the Dawn, Rice Without Rain), and is a staple on school literature reading lists.
Some names from Myanmar: River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint U; From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe; Wendy Law-Yone; and if you're into poetry, Bones Will Crow is a great anthology.
posted by hellopanda at 10:22 PM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Minfong Ho has written many YA books set in Cambodia (Clay Marble, Stone Goddess) and Thailand (Sing to the Dawn, Rice Without Rain), and is a staple on school literature reading lists.
Some names from Myanmar: River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint U; From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe; Wendy Law-Yone; and if you're into poetry, Bones Will Crow is a great anthology.
posted by hellopanda at 10:22 PM on July 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Some books from Indonesia:
Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan.
The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch
Indonesia, Etc. by Elizabeth Pisani (non-fiction)
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester (non-fiction)
For Burma/Mynmar:
Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin (non-fiction)
posted by emilynoa at 5:15 AM on July 13, 2018
Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan.
The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch
Indonesia, Etc. by Elizabeth Pisani (non-fiction)
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester (non-fiction)
For Burma/Mynmar:
Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin (non-fiction)
posted by emilynoa at 5:15 AM on July 13, 2018
Rachel Heng has recommended "5 Novels By Singaporean Writers You Should Read".
posted by moiraine at 6:37 AM on July 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by moiraine at 6:37 AM on July 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Malaysia: Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain
Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory
Both authors are quite well-known though I've only read Tash Aw's Five Star Billionaire which is quite uneven.
Zen Cho's The Terracotta Bride
Singapore: Ok, he's a comic artist. Troy Chin's The Resident Tourist series.
posted by whitelotus at 2:54 AM on July 14, 2018
Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory
Both authors are quite well-known though I've only read Tash Aw's Five Star Billionaire which is quite uneven.
Zen Cho's The Terracotta Bride
Singapore: Ok, he's a comic artist. Troy Chin's The Resident Tourist series.
posted by whitelotus at 2:54 AM on July 14, 2018
One more that someone recommended to me that I forgot about. Just ordered it.
Singapore: Breaking the Tongue: A Novel by Vyvyane Loh
posted by whitelotus at 3:10 AM on July 16, 2018
Singapore: Breaking the Tongue: A Novel by Vyvyane Loh
posted by whitelotus at 3:10 AM on July 16, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
Otherwise, you might find Ann Morgan's list handy (she spent a year reading authors from every country in the world, in English).
posted by andrewesque at 6:49 AM on July 12, 2018